Sunday, May 15, 2011

Water shortages are no news in the Middle East. This article in Gulf Times caught my eye for a number of reasons. First, the institution where I work, Oregon State University, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Qatar for technology transfer. OSU is not unique in this regard; many schools have done the same, and some have even opened campuses in Qatar. According to the press release *The Oregon and Qatar representatives discussed near term collaborative projects in the areas of new desalination technologies, irrigation and monitoring procedures and agronomic methods. They also discussed a multi-institution, multi-state effort to establish a "next generation" irrigation management program based largely on using brackish water and reclaimed waste water to optimize agricultural use of water*. The only challenge I see in fulfilling this MOU is that OSU, like many other US institutions, is seeing their world-class faculty with expertise in these areas retiring. And the State of Oregon is still just on the first baby steps in approving the rules of greywater reuse in the state, so there is not much active research in this arena within Oregon, save the folks at the award winning Oregon-based company Puralytics.

*Qatar could develop a number of small, decentralised sewage treatment and water-recycling units instead of relying on centralised plants that receive all the greywater and blackwater through a communal system* is what a UNESCO advisor is recommending. *Independent sewage treatment facilities, if installed at housing complexes, shopping centres, and institutions with a large number of employees, would streamline the entire process and save huge quantities of fresh water*.

Previous postings have discussed greywater reuse in the Middle East, specifically this excellent document published by the Canadians and this posting about the importance of greywater to national security in the Middle East. Dr. Peter Gleick of the water thinktank Pacific Institute came out with a comparable challenge to centralized water distribution and wastewater treatment in this posting, suggesting *The old centralized model of water purification, delivery, and wastewater treatment could use some competition from small-scale, distributed systems that may produce better local benefits. This includes expanding local efforts to use greywater*. And who can forget this classic posting on the challenge to the wastewater treatment industry's local pocketbooks with decentralized water/wastewater systems.

How big is the market? According to this article, *Distributed water purification could, potentially, also finally open up the long-awaited flood of investment into water...The field of water treatment could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year...A shift to distributed water and private sector customers could accelerate the market. You could even see companies like IBM, Bechtel or Siemens offering the complete off-the-grid package to new housing developers and contractors*.

Contesting the status quo in Qatar just might be what it takes to make a shift from *protecting the power* of the proponents of centralized water/wastewater treatment. According to the UNESCO official studying the Qatar situation, the region is very dependent on desalination plants that *...are not really clean factories...They cause brine pollution in the marine environment with the output of higher saline water, which in turn brings biodiversity down...The desalination plants, which cause thermal pollution by heating the water a little bit, are also responsible for substantial air pollution as they are using fossil fuel*.

“Of course, the more water needs to be produced, the more these plants will pollute the air. So taking care of the waste water, trying to recycle it, is in all of our interest, it is in the interest of our environment, and human health,” Dr. Boer added.

* * *

"Those individuals, communities, and institutions that benefit from the current allocation or perceive they will suffer from a change have great power to defend the status quo." Hamman, R. 2005. The Power of the Status Quo. In Adaptive Governance and Water Conflict: New Institutions for Collaborative Planning, J.T. Scholz and B. Stiftel, editors. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, pp.125-129.

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About Me

This blog was an experiment in social media and networking for a class that I teach in water science and policy. You will find more than 300 postings here searchable through the key word search bar. Want to learn more about cool greywater equipment, type "gadgets"; "living building", etc. Type in "permit" to learn more about permitting greywater systems. Opinions are my own even though the blog is used as a learning resource. Thanks for reading.

Colors of the blog logo?

The Peace Flag? The Gay Pride Flag? All good guesses, but no, it is the Cuzco Wiphala which I first observed in 1984 in Cuzco at the Inti Raymi festival. It consists of seven horizontal stripes representing the colors of the rainbow. The significance and meanings for each color are as follows:

Red: The Earth and people

Orange: Society and culture

Yellow: Energy

Green: Natural resources

Light Blue or White: Time

Blue: The heavens

Purple: Self-determination

Colors of Water

Clearwater many times thought to have come from a fresh water spring. Because water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and both elements are invisible gases is a reason why water has crystal clear appearance.Tough to find these days in a natural state. Easy to find in a manufactured state and trapped in a bottle.

Whitewater, historical reference to noncorrupt activities by the Clintons pursued by a former special prosecutor. Sometimes also refers to water with lots of air or dissolved gas.Also connected to rapidly flowing water in rivers where lots of fun can be had in a multitude of floating devices. With incompetence in one arena, and competent treatment in the others, these waters remain harmless.

Greywater or graywater has many different definitions, I guess some could say “quasi conspiratorial” if one considers that graywater is neutral between whitewater and blackwater, but my previous job as a volunteer for the State of Oregon focused on HB 2080 which defines graywater as: “shower and bath waste water, bathroom sink waste water, kitchen sink waste water and laundry waste water. Graywater does not mean toilet or garbage wastes or waste water contaminated with soiled diapers.”No grey area in this definition.

Blackwater has many forms including a name formerly connected to a defense contractor who apparently liked the color of water in the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina. Also a Doobie Brothers. But in the water world, it is untreated wastewater from both urban domestic use and rural septic tanks. Blackwater also occurs in Australia as organic material, such as leaves and bark, that is washed into the river by a flood thus causing oxygen depletion. It can also be derived from dissolved manganese in groundwater and commonly stains porcelain fixtures.Peaceful means of treatment ultimately prevail against this colored water, but use extreme caution, some variants can be deadly.

Brownwater or the tea-colored water famous in swampy areas along the Mississippi River and Amazon River where rotting vegetation and humic and fulvic acids abound.

Greenwater is precipitation water infiltrated into the soil (so-called ‘‘green water’’) made famous by the grand dame of water mavens Malin Falkinmark of the Stockholm International Water Institute. Also greywater that has been disinfected for later use for irrigation becomes green.

Bluewater is water withdrawn and water consumed (withdrawal minus return flow to the river system) from rivers, lakes and aquifers for the purpose of irrigation.Also found as the water in nuclear power plants where spent rods are stored, but the subject of a different blog (wherever that might be).

Redwater is common when the water purveyor is tinkering with piping network, especially old piping networks, where sediment and rust are stirred up during servicing.Can also be a function of iron bacteria in water.

Purplewater is sometimes thought derived from Purple Rain popularized by the performer once known as Prince, but now referred to as recycled water from wastewater treatment plants conveyed in purple colored pipes for non-potable uses.

Yellowwater is a variant of yellow snow, derived from “where the huskies go" (homage to Frank Zappa).